Improvement in machines for knitting tubular fabrics



6 Sheets-Sheet 2 B. L. STOWE.

Machine for Knitting Tubular Fabrics. N0. 22l,628. v Patented Nov. 11,I879.

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Ni PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, n C.

B.- L. STOWE. 6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Machine for Knitting Tubularr Fabrics. No. 221,628.

Patented Nov. 11, I879.

Izwenior w @J/m' N.FEI'ERS. PHOTD-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D c.

6Sheets-Sheet 4. B. L. STOWE.

Machine for Knitting Tubular Fabrics. NO. 221,628.

Patented Nov. 11, 1879.

6 Sheets-Sheet 5. B L'. OWE.

Machine fQr Knitt' Tubular Fabrics. No; 221,628. tented Nov. 11, I879.

Z Z J H M 6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

Machine for Knitting Tubular Fabrics. No. 221,628. Patented Nov.11,1879.

mliwmm': In mehfir fl/ZZ W N. PETERi PHOTO-UTMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D 04chine embodying my improvements.

STATES 1T 0F'F'IGE.

BENJAMIN L. srown, on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO J. VAN nnnni),

- or SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINES FOR KNlTTlN G TUBULAR FABRICS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 221,628, dated November11, 1879; application filed September 12, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that.I,-BENJAMIN"L. Srown, of thecity, county, and State'of New York, have in vented certain new. anduseful Im provements in Machines for Knitting Tubular Fabrics, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to machinery for knitting tubular fabrics for :useas hydraulic -or fire hose, and for other purposes. I have in view atubular knit fabric, the body of which shall be as strong or evenstronger thanordinaryknit tubular fabrics of a similar class,

while requiring less weight of material for its production. I make thefabric for this purpose of longitudinal inner strands, exteriorknitting-warp, and intermediate weft, in combination with an independentwarp, whose loops extend from the interior to the exterior of thefabric, binding solidly together the knitting-warp and the longitudinalstrands upon the intervening weft.

I remark that the fabric itself I have made the subject of a separateapplication for Letters Patent of even date herewith. My presentapplication is directed to machinery which I have found well adapted toproduce said fab- In this machine I make use of two sets of needles,each set of needles receiving and operating on a warp separate from andindependent of the other. In conjunction with these instrumentalities Iemploy longitudinal strandguides, aweftfguide, and also guides whichdeliver to thetwo sets of needles their respective warp-threads.

Thenature of my improvements and the manner in which thesame are or maybe carried into effect can, however, best be explained and understood byreference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is anelevation of a knitting-nia- Fig.2is

a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 3

is a plan of the same with the longitudinal strand-guides removed. .Fig.4 is a plan, and Fig. 5 is an elevation, of a portion of theneedle-cylinder developed, in order to show more clearly theconstruction and relative arrangement of the several thread or cordguides.

Figs. 6 to 10, inclusive, are enlarged sectional views, hereinafterreferred to, designed to represent the binding warp-stitch in differentstages of its formation. Fig. 11 is a sectional end view of the fabricon an enlarged scale. Fig. 12 is an elevation of a portion of the saidfabric.

The machine contains two sets of needles, a and d, the former the usualvertical needles, and the latter horizontal needles, adapted to move toand from the center of the machine in the spaces between the upper endsof the vertical needles. The vertical needles a and their blanks a aresupported in the needle-cylinder B and operated by the upright cam-ringO. The cylinder B rests on the bed A, and the cam-ring 0 receives motionfrom the main driving-shaft D through beveled gearing 0 C Thearrangement of these parts resembles that of the like parts of ordinarycircular-knitting machines, and requires no further explanation.

About the upper end of cylinder B, and firmly fixed to it by gibs andset-screws b, is a horizontal needle-plate, E, having in its upper sideradial grooves 0, in which the horizontal needles d and their blanks dslide in and out to and from the center of the machine. These needlesare operated by the horizontal rotary cam-plate F, which is attached tothe upright cam-cylinder O by arms F, and moves with said cylinder.

The stitches made by each set of needles can be lengthened or shortenedby the usual appliances, which I have not deemed it necessary torepresent in the drawings, inasmuch as they are well known and requireno description.

Attached to the bed A is an upright frame, A, which has fastened to ittwo large annular perforated plates, G H, placed over and concentricallywith the needle-cylinder, the number of perforations being equal .to thenumber of longitudinal strands employed, this number usuallycorresponding to that of the vertical needles. Below these plates andattached to the lower one, is a smaller annular plate, 1,correspondingly perforated or notched on its inner edge or otherwiseformed or provided with guides, one for each longitudinal strand. Theperforations or guides for the strands in this plate arepreferablyarranged directly over or a little to the inside or the circleof vertical needles, so that each thread as it is carried verticallydown shall be opposite to the inner side of one of the vertical needles.

Immediately over the center of the needlecylinderaverticalshaft,J,passes down through a bearing attached to frame A, and it isconnected to and receives motion from the main driving-shaft D throughthe intermediary ot shafts J J and beveled gearing, as shown in Fig. 1,in such manner that it is caused to rotate in unison with the cam-rings.Attached to shaft J is an arm, 6, carrying the bobbin f, from which onethread, 1, is supplied to the horizontal needles, said thread beingguided to the needles by passing through a guideeye, g, on an arm,fastened to the shaft, Fig. 3. The arm 9 also carries a toothed wheel,h, Fig. 2, whose teeth work in the spaces between the horizontalneedles, and whose function is to press the thread 1 down far enough toinsure its being taken by the said needles. The thread 1 is one of thebinding-warps.

The knitting-warp, which is operated on by the vertical needles, isshown at 2. It is supplied from one or more bobbins, 1', carried by anarm, K, fastened to and moving with the horizontal cam-ring F, and isguided properly to the vertical needles through a hook, j, and eye k onthe cam-ring F. Another arm, L, upon the opposite side of the cam-ringF, carries two bobbins, l and m, the former supplying the weft 3, andthe latter carrying a second warp-thread, 4, for the horizontal needles.The weft 3 passes through the tension 12, or its equivalent, and thenceto the guide 0, by which it is deposited in its proper placein thefabric. This guide consists of an arm attached to cam-ring F, which armextends inwardly until it nearly touches the longitudinal strands 5 asthey pass from the guide I to the working-point, and then turnsobliquely down until its delivery-point is just below the level of thehorizontal needles, as shown plainly in Figs. 4 and 5. It has an eye, 0,at its top, and a flange or lip, 0 extending downward on its inner side,in such manner as to prevent the tension from drawing the weft againstthe longitudinal strands until a point low enough to prevent its tensionfrom forcing the longitudinal strands too much toward the center isobtained.

The thread 4 from the spool m passes through the eyes 1) and r in theends of two arms, 1; 7', both of which are fastened to the horizontalcam-ring F, and at their guide ends extend to within a short distance ofthe longitudinal strands. The eye 10 is high enough to hold the threadabove the tops of the vertical needles, and the eye 1" is between thelongitudinal strands and the vertical needles, and just above the levelof the horizontal needles, as will be seen by reference to Figs. 4 and5.

I thus use in the machine four threads or sets of threads-via, thelongitudinal strands 5, the knitting-warp 2, the weft 3, and thebinding-warp 1 4. The manner in which these threads are conducted to theworking-point has already been indicated in the foregoing description. Imay add that the strands 5 are carried in any convenient manner from thespools upon which they are mounted (not shown in the drawings) to apoint over the machine, whence they are brought down to and passedthrough the annular perforated plates hereinbefore referred to, passingdown into the fabric upon a line parallel, or nearly so, with the axisof the machine.

I also remark, with respect to the bindingwarp thread or cord 1, that itpasses from its spool f (which is inside the cage formed by the annularplates G H and the strands 5) first through a suitable eye or guide tolead it in a direct line from the spool, and then to and through the eyeg, which is placed just above the level of the horizontal needles and ata point a little in advance of the point to which these needles aresuccessively advanced by the horizontal cam-ring F.

The other binding warp-thread, 4, is delivered from its guide 1' just inadvance of the point at which the latch of the horizontal needle isclosed upon the inside warp-thread, 1, by the stitch or loop already onthe body of the needle, so that the latch in closing shuts down alsoupon this thread and presses it into the hook of the needle along withthe thread 1.

The weft 3 is deposited by its guide just as the horizontal needlebegins advancing, and is crowded low enough by the point 0 of that guideto admit of the needle passing above it.

The operation of the parts above described is as follows, it beingsupposed that some knitting has already been done upon the machine, andthat the needles are in the posi tions in which they are shown upon theleft of the developed plan and elevation, Figs. 4 and 5: In thisposition the vertical needles are elevated sufliciently to hold theloops of the knitting-warp 2 upon them.

The horizontal needles are withdrawn, the binding warp-thread 4 passesfrom the hooks of one to another of these needles outside of thelongitudinal strands and under the knitting-warp 2 as it leads from oneto another of the vertical needles, and the binding-warp 1 also leadsfrom one to another of the horizontal needles, but, unlike warp 4,passes around the inside of one of the longitudinal strands 5 in itspassage, and binds the whole fabric firmly together. The weft is belowall these stitches.

Referring now to diagram, sectional, Figs. 6 to 10, inclusive, if themachme be put in motion the guide 0 will presently press all of thesestitches down and will deposit the weft above them, as seen in Fig. 8.One of the horizontal needles willadvance immediately behind the pointof guide 0 and will pass over the weft just deposited. The knitting-warp2, as it leads from one vertical needle to another, passes over the warpconstituting the previously-formed loop on the horizontal needle, andthe weft-thread just deposited will prevent said loop from advancingwith the horizontal needle, and'consequently the latch of the latterwill be opened and the loop crowded back upon its body, as seen in Fig.6. After penetrating the circle of longitudinal strands 5, the point orhook of the horizontal needle will pass under warp 1 as it leads fromits guide, and the toothed'wheel h, following immediately after, willcrowd the warp 1 low enough for the hook of the needle to engage it, asseen in Fig. 9. The end of guide r, with warp 4 just outside of thelongitudinal cord 5, will also be observed in this figure. Thehorizontal needle then withdraws until the loop already on the body ofthe needle causes its latch to partly close, as seen in Fig. 7, at whichtime the warp 4, by its guide r, is laid just above the needle in suchmanner that the latch, as it continues to close, will press the warp 4into the hook of the needle along with warp 1, and the result will be asshown in Fig. 10.

The movement of the machine being continued, the knitting-warp 2 ispresented to the vertical needles by its guide, after which it falls andforms its stitches as in an ordinary machine.

The fabric produced by a machine thus organized is represented in Figs.11 and 12, the vertical rows of stitches formed by the binding-warp 1 4being laid in the grooves that would otherwise intervene between therows of loops or stitches of the-knittin'g-warp.

The fabric thus made possesses much strength and durability. It is notso liable to break as ordinary fabric of this class, and in event of anyone stitch of one warp becoming out there is another independent warpbehind it, which holds the stitches upon either side of it, and preventsthe fabric from opening at that point.

Inasmuch as I may use only a single binding-warp or -set of warp-threadsarranged as thread 1 to pass from the inside to the outside of thefabric, the bobbin and the guide or guides for the thread 4 may bedispensed with. I prefer, however, to use for the binding-warp the twothreads 1 and 4 in conjunction.

I have indicated one way in which my invention can practically becarried into effect. It is manifest, however, that the details of themachine can be varied, and that the construction and arrangement of theseveral guides may be modified without departure from my inventionas,for instance, the weft 8 may, by proper arrangement of the guide whichdeposits or delivers it, be deposited outside of the circle of verticalneedles instead of within that circle. In that event it would still beheld in position by the binding-warp and knitting-warp whether thelongitudinal strands were used or not, and in this way I could produce afabric from which the longitudinal strands would be omitted. For somepurposes such a fabric would be available; but generally it is desirableto retain the longitudinal strands, especially in knitting hose.

Having described my improvements, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. In machinery for knitting tubular fabrics, the combination, withvertical needles, horizontal needles working in and out in the spacesbetween said vertical needles, and cam-rings, and actuating mechanismfor operating both sets of needles, of a longitudinal strand-guide, aweft-guide, a binding-warp guide which delivers binding-warp to thehorizontal needles at a point within the circle of longitudinal strands,and a guide for delivering knittingwarp to the vertical needles, saidwarp and weft guides being mounted on the cam-rings or some part movingin unison therewith, and arranged to deliver their respective threadsrelatively to one another, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. In machinery for knitting tubular fabrics, organized and operatingsubstantially as described, the combination, with the vertical andhorizontal needles and guiding means for the longitudinal strands, ofthe two binding-warp guides, arranged to deliver to the horizontalneedles the two threads of the binding-warp, the one at a point withinthe circle of longitudinal strands, the other at a point between saidstrands and the vertical needles, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth. y

3. The combination of the vertical and horizontal needles and theiractuating mechanism, the guide or guides for delivering binding-warp tothe horizontal needles, the guide or guides for delivering knitting-warpto the vertical needles, and the guide for delivering or depositing theweft relatively to the binding and the knitting warps, substantially ashereinbefore set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto set my hand.

BENJAMIN L. STOWE.

Witnesses:

ALMET REED, NATHAN STowE.

